Coca-Cola doesn’t think its customers have enough drink choices

Coca-Cola doesn’t think its customers have enough drink choices. So starting this summer, diners at some California, Georgia, and Utah fast-food joints will get to try a self-serve drink dispenser that pours more than 100 varieties of sodas, juices, teas, and flavored waters.

Coke plans to roll out the Freestyle drink dispenser nationwide, eventually putting tens of thousands of them in places such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Willy’s Mexican Grill. And while the machine is taking the concept of customer choice to new heights, the most interesting aspect is the technology it’s built on. Freestyle will become Coke’s front-line robotic army for business intelligence, sending massive amounts of consumption data back to the beverage company’s Atlanta headquarters.